MORE than 70,000 babies are living in overheated homes in England as rising temperatures make it “impossible” for parents to keep them comfortable, housing experts warned yesterday.

National Housing Federation (NHF) chief executive Kate Henderson called for “urgent action” to ensure housing can be kept at safe temperatures.

She said that it is “now clear that increasingly extreme heatwaves are making it impossible for parents, whatever they do, to make their homes completely safe and comfortable” indicating that steps such as drawing the curtains to keep homes cool are no longer enough.

Some 1.59 million children live in homes that get uncomfortably hot, according to NHF and Chartered Institute of Housing analysis of the 2023 English Housing Survey.

Of these, 70,690 are under the age of one.

Separate polling of 1,592 parents in England found seven in 10 said an overheated home disrupts their children’s sleep, while 49 per cent said it affects their children’s ability to concentrate.

Ms Henderson said: “These survey results show that overheating is already affecting large numbers of children, disrupting their sleep, harming their health and putting the youngest babies at particular risk.

“As heatwaves become more frequent and more intense, we need urgent action to ensure homes can be kept at safe temperatures and are fit for the future.

“Housing associations are taking this seriously and are already building heat resilience into their homes, but they cannot do it alone.

“We’re calling on ministers to work with the sector on a comprehensive plan to tackle overheating in social housing and support landlords to retrofit cooling measures at scale and pace.”